Presidential Decree No. PP-391 “On additional measures to develop the seed production system in cotton growing and increase cotton yields.”

The President, in order to radically increase productivity in cotton growing, expanding the use of scientific and innovative approaches in growing raw cotton through the use of modern effective agricultural technologies and the introduction of free market mechanisms in the seed production system, establishes that starting from January 1, 2024, under the control of specialists from the Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection and the Cotton Growing Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as an exception, it is allowed to import and place as an experiment high-yielding foreign varieties and hybrids of cotton on areas of up to 10 percent of land used for cotton and located in management of cotton-textile clusters and farms. The applicant shall comply with the following requirements: (a) availability of a quarantine permit, phytosanitary certificate or certificate issued by government authorities for quarantine and plant protection of the exporting country; (b) absence on the part of the importer of claims to intellectual property in growing cotton crops from cotton varieties and hybrids imported from abroad and propagating their seeds; (c) reimbursement of licensing costs by the importing enterprise if it is necessary to conclude a licensing agreement with the originators of the variety (patent owners) when importing foreign varieties and hybrids of cotton; (d) organizing the cultivation of foreign varieties and hybrids of cotton in local conditions for sowing in subsequent years; and (e) in order to prevent biological and mechanical contamination of varieties, strict adherence to the procedure of the placement of varieties in areas for sowing cotton.